Public restrooms and toilets are often not kept clean and sanitary as one would like. This is particularly true of the toilets and toilet seats that must be used by multiple persons. The toilet seats may be soiled or wet and may contain disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
The user of such a toilet generally has no choice but to use such facilities. The user may attempt to wipe the seat with toilet paper or other tissue. A user may use toilet paper from the dispenser to cover the seat to provide a barrier between the user and the seat. This usually provides unsatisfactory results because the toilet paper has a tendency to move during use and moisture from the seat may soak through to the skin of the user. The use of toilet paper on the seat does not solve the problem of wet or dirty toilet seats.
Some restrooms have paper toilet seat covers that may be used on the toilet seat. These covers are made of paper and are shaped to fit the shape of the seat. After use, the paper is flushed down the toilet. Similar to the use of toilet paper, however, the paper has a tendency to slide over the surface of the seat and not stay in place. In addition, moisture may soak through the paper to the skin of the user. To prevent this, some seat covers are oversized to drape down the sides of the toilet bowl; others recommend taping the cover to the toilet seat. Thus, paper seat covers do not provide satisfactory results of keeping the user clean and dry when using a public toilet.
On the other end of the spectrum is a motorized seat cover that utilizes a sensor or a push button to change the toilet seat cover for the next user. A roll of plastic tubing is placed on the left side of the seat. This sanitary plastic tubing encases the toilet seat ring and then feeds into the toilet seat housing. After each use, the plastic is split by an internal razor blade and then rewound on the right side of the toilet seat housing. This used plastic is automatically spooled on the other side of the seat for disposal. Systems of this type are expensive and require cleaning personnel to dispose of the used plastic after it is rewound from the seat.
Another option, especially for travelers, is a hard plastic cover that may be molded to fit standard toilet seats. The user can bring the seat along for use in public toilets to avoid having to sit directly on the toilet seat. When finished, the user simply takes the seat along to the next use. These seats can be heavy, especially for children, and can take up a lot of space when traveling. They also require the user to clean them when finished so as not to bring the very moisture and germs along that he was hoping to avoid.
It would be advantageous to have a disposable, water-soluble toilet seat cover that can be easily placed over a toilet seat and will stay in place during use. For example, it would be advantageous for the cover to be dissolvable in water or be flushable within the toilet. It is desirable that the cover include a portion that absorbs moisture on the toilet seat and a portion that is impermeable to moisture that forms a barrier between the user and the toilet seat.